Firearm magazine



Oct. 10, 1944. M. BIRKIGT FIREARM MAGAZINE Filed April 24, 1940 Z/Sh eetS-Sheet l INVENTOI? Oct. 10, 1944. M. BIRKIGT 2,360,035

FIREARM MAGAZINE Filed April 24, 1940 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented Oct. 10, 1944 barren srar Application April 24, 1940, Serial No. 331,473 In France October 14, 1939 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to feed mechanisms and magazines for firearms and in particular automatic firearms. The invention is more especially, although not exclusively, concerned with small bore automatic guns.

The chief object of the present invention is to provide a device of the type above mentioned which is better adapted to meet the requirements of practice than those used for the same purpose up to this time.

According to an important feature of the invention, the firearm includes, in combination with the magazine, means, adapted to permit free movement of the cartridges toward the outlet of the magazine, for imperatively guiding said cartridges for at least a part of the substantially axial displacement they are given for eng ging them into the arm with which the magazine is enacting.

In an embodiment of the invention, the means above mentioned include a guiding member provided with at least one surface adapted to bear on one of the cartridges in the magazine, said member being movable and spring mounted so that it can be retracted out of the path of movement of the cartridges on their way toward the outlet of the magazine.

, In another embodiment of the invention, the means above mentioned include guiding surfaces carried in fixed position by the magazine and arranged in such manner as to permit the free passage of the front portions of the cartridges, which are of smaller diameter than the rear portions, toward the outlet of the magazine, and to guide the cartridges, after they have been moved forward along the axis of the gun bore, by coacting with said rear portions of the cartridges, successively.

Other features of the present invention will result from the following detailed description of some specific embodiments thereof.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be hereinafter described, with reference to the accompanying drawings, given merely by way of example, and in which:

Fig. 1 is an axial sectional view of a feed device for an automatic firearm, said device being made according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an axial sectional view of a feed device for an automatic firearm, said device being made according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig74 is a transverse sectional view on the line IV'IV of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line V--V of Fig. 3.

In the following description, it will be supposed that it is desired to provide an improved cartridge feed mechanism for a quick firing gun of small bore.

The general structure of the device is of any suitable conventional type. For instance, it comprises a magazine I, at the lower part of which there is providedan outlet passage 2 consisting, for instance, of two flanges adapted to engage in the breech box of the automatic gun to be fed, means, such for instance as a magazine spring not visible on the drawings, being provided for causing the cartridges 3 to move, when possible, toward the outlet of passage 2.

It is known that, in feed devices of this kind,

the insertion of a cartridge into the gun is ensured by the displacement of some movable pieces of the breech mechanism, a projection i, actuated by said pieces, catching the rear edge of the cartridge which has been brought opposite the outlet of the feed passage 2.

Now, there is a substantial distance between the point of application of the thrust exerted by projection t, on the one hand, and the-axis of the cartridge passing through its center of gravity G. Therefore, under the effect of this thrust, the cartridge tends to rock and, due to rebounding, to move on the inside of the cartridge chamber of the gun with a swinging motion which involves many serious disadvantages.

According to the essential feature of the present invention, this defect is obviated by providing the magazine device with means, adapted to permit free movement of the cartridges toward the outlet of the magazine, for imperatively guiding said cartridges during at least a part of the substantially axial displacement they are given for their insertion into the gun cartridge chamber.

In the case of a feeding device made as above described, that is to say including an outlet passage 2, the means in question are advantageously constituted by guiding surfaces projecting to the inside of said passage so as to ensure a linear guiding of the first cartridge 3a to be introduced into the arm.

As this cartridge is generally introduced into a tion thereof in-which the case thereof (which happens'to" be the portion of the whole which is of maximum diameter) just engages the cartridge chamber of the gun, the latter ensuring, from this time on, the proper guiding of said case.

For this purpose, according to the present invention, I provide the following elements:

a. On the one hand, two lower guiding surfaces of cylindrical shape, constituting a kind of cradle adapted to support the case of cartridge Id at the beginning of the introduction movement, that is to say during the portion of this movement preceding the engagement of the case of the cartridge into the cartridge chamber of the gun;

b. bn the other hand, at least one upper guiding surface, also of cylindrical shape, arranged in such manner, with respect to the above mentioned guiding surfaces, that the case of the cartridge is positively held, during the greatest part of the beginning of its introduction movement, between the lower guiding surfaces and the upper guiding surface.

The upper guiding surface may act either directly on the upper part of the case of cartridge 3a (case illustrated by Fig. 3) or on the upper part of the case of a. cartridge located above, for instance cartridge 3b located immediately above cartridge id (as illustrated by Fig. 1).

But care must be taken that the upper guiding surface should not oppose the free displacement of the cartridges through passage 2 in the downward direction, from magazine I, as cartridges are being fed to the gun.

For this purpose, according to an embodiment of the invention, the upper guiding surface is formed on a member adapted to be retracted, against the action of elastic means, so as to permit the free passage of the cartridges in a downward direction through passage 2.

According to another embodiment, when the upper guiding surface is tocooperate directly with the first cartridge 3a, advantage is taken of the fact that the front portion of each cartridge is of smallerdiameter than the body of the case of the cartridge. Accordingly, this upper guiding surface is located, in this embodiment, in the portion of passage 2 through which passes the front portion of the cartridges during the downward movement thereof, and this guiding surface projects inside the passage to a distance such as to afford, between the opposite walls of the passage, an interval greater than the diameter of the front portion of the cartridge but smaller than the diameter of the case of the cartridge, whereby, in the course of the forward axial movement of said cartridge, the

case thereof engages under the upper guiding surface of th passage and is guided by it.

The first of the two above mentioned embodi-. ments is illustrated by Figs. 1 and 2.

In this embodiment, the retractable member is constituted by a rocking element 8 pivoted about an axis 1 and provided with a. nose 6 adapted to project on the inside of the passage through an aperture 8 provided for this purpose in one of the walls of passage 2. Member 6 is provided with a shoulder 6 adapted to bear against the outer face of the wall of the passage so a to limit the inward displacement of member 6 in the passage.

The lower edge of nose 8 forms a cylindrical groove 8 which constitutes the upper guiding surface.

I further provide elastic means, such for instance as a spring Ill adapted to urge rocking member 8 toward the position (shown in solid lines) in which it projects on the inside of passage 2 and guiding surface 0 bears against the case of cartridge 8b, said'elastic means enabling, on the contrary, member I to occupy the position (shown in dotted lines) when the downward movement of the cartridges through passage 2 compels nose 6 to move outwardly.

Such a device works in the following manner: In-the position shown by-the drawings, cartridge 3a is longitudinally guided, at the lower part by guiding surfaces 5 carried by the walls of passage 2, and, at the upper part, by the lower part of the cartridge lb located immediately above it, said cartridge 31: being securely held in position by member 8, which is then in the position shown by the solid lines.

Thus guided, cartridge 30 is pushed tow d the front by projection I, carried by the movable breech mechanism. When this cartridge has been pushed forwardout of the magazine, the cartridges present in the passage move down one step. In the course of this movement, cartridge 3b comes into the position precedingly occupied by cartridge 30, and the cartridge 3 located immediately above cartridge 3b causes member 6 temporarily to retract outwardly, after which said member 6 comes back intoits original position in which it holds cartridge 3, which has passed below it.

In the second embodiment, illustrated by Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive, the device does not include any piece movably mounted with respect to the magazine or the feed passage.

According to this embodiment, I provide, on the inner walls of passage 2, two upper guiding surfaces 901. located, as above explained, in the zone of said passage where the front portions of the cartridges (cartridge 312, Fig. 4) pass in the course of their downward movement through passage 2. Therefore, these guiding surfaces coact with the case of the cartridge that is being moved axially toward the front for introduction into the gun bore only when said cartridge has already undergone a certain displacement, suillcient for bringing its case under the guiding surfaces in question (cartridge 30 of Figs. 3 and 4), said case being then guided both by the upper and the lower guiding surfaces, respectively designated by reference characters 9a and 5.

Thus, the cartridge that is being pushed into the gun bore is correctly guided by the cooperation of surfaces 9a and 5. Once this cartridge has been fired and expelled, the next cartridge, 31), is pushed downwardly. Owing to the fact that the front part of said cartridge is of smaller diameter than the minimum distance between projections 9a, said cartridge can freely move down between the walls of passage 2. Then, when the cartridge is pushed frontwardly by the breech mechanism, the case thereof comes under projections to and as said case is of a diameter greater than the distance between said projections, thecartridge is now guided both by surfaces 9a and by surfaces 5.

Whatever be the particular embodiment that is chosen, the advantages thereof result sumciently clearly from the preceding description for making it unnecessary to enter into further explanations.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and eflicient embodiments. it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the accompanying claim.

What I claim is:

In a magazine adapted to be detachably connected to a gun, said magazine having space for a. plurality of cartridges to be fed to the'gun by movement thereof in a direction transverse to their axial direction, said magazine being provided with an elongated generally rectangular structure constituting a passageway terminating in an outlet through which each cartridge passes from the magazine toward the gun, the cartridge nearest to the outlet being disposed to be moved from said outlet toward the gun with an axial displacement by mechanism carried by the gun, the inner surfaces of the side walls of said passageway being formed with fixed front and rear guiding means cooperating with each other for positively guiding each cartridge in the course of said axial displacement, said guiding means at the rear portion of said passageway comprising elongated parallel portions on opposite side walls of said passageway adjacent the outlet and extending inwardly in said passageway to confine said passageway at said rear portion to a width less than the diameter of the main body of a cartridge, said elongated parallel portions having arcuate surfaces for engaging the under side sur faces of the cartridge nearest the outlet, said guiding means at the front portion of said passageway comprising elongated parallel portions on opposte side walls of said passageway adjacent the outlet and extending inwardly in said pas- 

